ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — School officials have not heard from thousands of students in Central Florida since digital learning started in response to the coronavirus pandemic. One superintendent called these students “missing in action.”

  • Schools struggle to contact some students since online classes started
  • Orange County schools can’t get a hold of approx. 2,900 kids
  • Osceola schools haven't been able to contact 2,200 kids
  • COMPLETE COVERAGE: Spectrum News | CDC | Florida Dept. of Health

Orange County Public Schools teacher Jenenvieve Jackson teaches video production at Oak Ridge High School. She’s trying to make the best of distance learning, even producing other videos to help other teachers.

But one of the most difficult parts of distance learning for her: Some of her students are AWOL.

“I don’t know the exact number but there were about less than 10 that I haven’t heard from, that I haven’t been able to get a hold of,” Jackson said.

OCPS Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins acknowledged this at a recent press conference.

“Yet we still know we have a few children who are missing in action,” Jenkins said.


Charter Communications has temporarily opened its live stream free to the public. You can watch Spectrum News via our live stream on your desktop or laptop without a subscription by visiting our website and clicking “Watch Live” in the upper right. Charter also is temporarily offering free broadband and wifi access for 60 days to teachers and families with K-12 or college students. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. The company also will open more than half a million wifi hotspots across the country.


The vast majority of students in Central Florida have been able to connect with their teacher digitally. But there’s still a few thousand kids who are unaccounted for since the start of distance learning.

According to Orange County Public Schools, officials can’t get a hold of approximately 2,900 kids.

Osceola County Schools says they still can't get a hold of about 2,200 students, while Volusia County Schools officials said they weren't sure of the total number.

Spectrum News 13 reached out to Seminole and Brevard County School districts but have not received a response from either at last update.

Dr. Jenkins says the Orange County school district needs to get in contact with the parents of these students ASAP.

 “That means we are desperately trying to reach them,” she said.

Jackson says they’re not trying to track down these students just so they can get their homework. She and other teachers want to make sure these kids are OK.

“I don’t want anybody to feel alone, or like they can’t turn to anybody for help, because OCPS has a whole lot of resources even before this pandemic,” Jackson said.

Both Orange County and Osceola County leaders are urging parents to make sure they are in contact with their children’s school.

Here's the way you can find your child's school contact information if you or someone you know hasn't heard from them yet.